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Soul Legend Bettye LaVette signs to ANTI-

Bettye Lavette, one of the supreme voices in soul music, has been signed by Anti- Records. Her first album for the label will be released in the autumn.

Ms. Lavette will be working with artist and producer Joe Henry, who was also responsible for Solomon Burke’s Grammy-winning ‘Don’t Give Up On Me’ album in 2002. Recording sessions are scheduled to start in May.

This will be the latest chapter in a long musical career that started at the age of 16 with a tune called ‘My Man – He’s a Lovin’ Man’, recorded by Bettye in 1962 for the small Detroit-based label, Lupine. The record was picked up by Atlantic Records, the first of many nationwide record labels for whom Bettye Lavette recorded during the Sixties and Seventies.

Dave Godin, the esteemed English soul music writer and archivist, claimed: “There are dozens of really top-drawer female Soul singers in what is a highly competitive field, but few can match the flawless totality of conveyed experience that Bettye Lavette never fails to achieve.

“She is the consummate artist who can relate on every level. Take Bettye Lavette away from Soul music’s history and there is a gap which no other person I can think of could have filled”.

Although she never achieved the level of commercial success her extraordinary talents deserved, Bettye Lavette’s music has long since made an indelible impression on soul fans around the world – in the UK, for instance, she was one of the pivotal artists in the 1970’s Northern Soul movement.

Among the labels for which she has recorded are Motown, Scepter, Atco, Epic, Silver Fox, West End, SSS International and Street King. Her classic tunes include ‘Piece of My Heart’ – a recording that clearly influenced Janis Joplin’s version of the song – and ‘Your Turn To Cry’, a mesmerizing deep soul performance released as a single by Atlantic’s Atco label in 1972.

Anti-Records is also the label home of such artists as Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, Daniel Lanois as well as the aforementioned Solomon Burke album. Says Anti president, Andy Kaulkin, “The consistent quality of Bettye’s work over the last 40+ years is amazing to me. From her creative song choices to the fire of her performances. she has always stood apart. This great artist has been seriously slept on, and we want to do everything we can to change that.”

For more information, visit Bettye's official website at the link below.